Watcha Doin?
by nomorehappykitty
Summary: Kankuro likes Sakura. Sakura never noticed, and when Gaara enrolls into their school, she develops feelings for him. She'd never abandon Kankuro though...Would she? Who'll she choose when she's forced to decide? GaaSakuKanku Haven't decided yet
1. Chapter 1

Kitty-chan: Guess what: I didn't die! Woo-hoo! Just wanted to let you guys know that if you were starting to wonder when I was going to write my next story, and here it is. So, Tobi, if you'll do the exclaimer.

Tobi: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

"Watcha doin, Saks?" a familiar male voice questioned from behind.

"Hmm? Oh, just thinking," she answered, not even looking about him.

"About?"

"Gaara will be coming to our school soon right?" she questioned turning to look him in the eyes. They were a pretty shade of dark brown, outlined by dark purple eyeliner. Sakura was relieved that he was starting to wear only purple eyeliner and had grown out of his war paint phase. People used to give him hell over that.

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm just curious to know if he's ready for it. He's not usually a people person, I mean, I've only met him once—and it was just me—and he didn't look like he was okay with the company. Do you think he'll be okay in such a big school?" she asked.

"He should be fine. He's been improving in his social skills. I'm actually more worried that he's enrolling toward the end of the first semester. I hope he'll be able to pick up where the teachers start," Kankuro declared.

"If you say so . . ." Sakura sighed, and then looked back at her homework. A grimace distorted her thoughtful expression that Kankuro had always thought made her look so cute.

"Don't make a face like that. It might get stuck that way, and then you won't look cute anymore," he declared. Unbeknownst to Sakura, he was being very serious.

"Ha-ha, Kankuro," Sakura spat out sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

"You having trouble with the homework?" he asked.

"As if you could help me. Didn't you fail _Algebra 2 with Trig_?" she chuckled.

"Aw come on. Let me at least look at it," he pouted, taking the slip of problems and looking at each one. He then placed the paper back down, turned around and started to leave.

"Well, good luck," he declared with a wave.

"You're not going to help?" Sakura shouted incredulously.

"Well, weren't you the one that said I wouldn't know what you were doing?" he raised a brow.

"Well . . ." Sakura looked away, her cheeks flushing with shame. She hadn't meant for him to take it in a bad way. Kankuro could have sworn he felt his heart plummet at her ashamed expression. He turned back and stopped in front of her.

"And you were right," he chuckled ruffling her hair. Her expression morphed into one of anger within a split second.

"Kankuro, you jerk! I can't believe I actually felt bad for a second there," she raged, throwing a punch at his shoulder, but the brunette sidestepped her blow perfectly.

"Later," he replied with a laugh, and was gone.

"That jerk . . ." Sakura grumbled, sinking back into her seat and continued her work. She didn't notice when someone had walked up behind her and peered over her shoulder.

"It's 4.0. The sine of 17 times 9 and divided by the sine of 41 is 4.0 rounded to the nearest tenth," a quiet voice said from behind her.

Sakura jumped and whirled around to look at whoever was behind her, and to her surprise she saw a familiar head of red hair and a pair of aqua eyes.

"_G-Gaara_? What are you doing here?" she asked incredulously.

"You know you're supposed to be quiet in libraries," he declared, ignoring her question.

Sakura stared at him for a while. He looked a little more comfortable being around her, but he was still a little tense. His messy red hair was a little messier than usual, and his eyes never stayed on one thing. He wore a black hoodie with a blood red dragon Sakura knew was on the back because of the many times she had stolen that jacket from him without him knowing, a pair of black jeans with a chain connected to his side belt loop that was tucked into his pocket, and a pair of black Doc Martens.

"Nice jacket," she declared, not really knowing what else to say without setting him into a state of unresponsiveness.

"I know . . . I'm actually kind of nervous wearing this. I'm worried about how many people have seen you wearing it," he informed. Sakura smiled sheepishly. So he did know she took it.

"Sorry . . ." she mumbled. He shrugged as if it was no big deal. "You're doing better," she added, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah . . . I guess. Temari's having me come to school here for my last two years, so that I'll at least have some high school experience," he muttered.

"So you'll be in my grade? Really? I thought you were older than me," she questioned.

"I am, but only by two months," he answered.

"Oh . . ." she murmured. "You never answered my first question," she added.

" . . . I'm here checking out the school. I've never been to a public school before, so I wanted to be familiar with the customs before I came," he answered somewhat shyly.

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll fit right in," she replied. "What do you have on your schedule? Have you gotten it yet?" she asked.

Gaara produced a piece of paper from the depths of his pants pocket and handed it over to the pinkette, who had momentarily forgotten her math work. She looked it over and grimaced.

"We only have one class together this semester, but we have three next," she informed him.

"Is that a bad thing?" he questioned with a raised brow, and Sakura was about to get angry until she noticed the corner of his lips twitch upward slightly, and she knew he was kidding.

"Ha-ha. So funny, Gaara. I didn't know you had a sense of humor," she replied sarcastically.

The redhead shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Have you gotten your uniform yet?" she asked. He nodded, a look of distaste crossing his features.

"Hey, you didn't think I wore this uniform for fun, did you?" she questioned, a laughing twinkle in her eyes, and showed off her uniform which she had customized with her own style.

She wore her white button up blouse un-tucked, one black chain was draped from one side of her hips and a silver chain was draped from the other side, her navy and black plaid skirt stopped about mid-thigh, a navy tie hung loosely around her neck and a pair of black converse covered her feet, and she wore a pair of black fingerless gloves on her hands and a navy ribbon in her hair.

"Well, it looks like you enjoyed dressing up this morning," he replied.

"Please," Sakura rolled her eyes. "If I had the opportunity, this would not be my idea of an outfit for school. The only upside about the uniform is that you can wear whatever shoes you want, and you can customize your style."

"Well, at least it's not all bad," he mumbled. Sakura stared at him for a second, the intensity of her gaze making him feel a little self-conscious. "What?" he finally questioned.

"You know, you're talking more than you used to," she replied with a smile. "You used to be so shy and quiet it was almost cute," she added with a giggle.

Gaara raised a brow at her behavior, a strange feeling coming over her.

"I'm not going to respond to that," he declared

"Too late, you already did," she laughed. Suddenly, the bell rang and Sakura swore, turning back to her textbook and slamming it shut. She sighed, and plopped back down in her seat, a face screwing up in frustration. "Well, looks like I have homework," she grimaced, taking her book and making her way out of the library.

"Do you have trouble with math?" Gaara asked.

Sakura stopped in her tracks. She couldn't believe that she was that easy to read.

"Is it really that obvious?" she questioned.

"Well, considering you couldn't do one of the simplest trigonometry problems, I'd say yes," he answered bluntly. Sakura sighed.

"Would you like help?" he asked, surprising her. She hadn't expected him to ask something like that. "I can tutor you since I've already been through pretty much all of basic trig," he added.

"Thanks, Gaara. You're a real help," she replied with a large smile. "Is now okay? I mean, I don't have any after school plans," she questioned.

"I would, but Temari told me to come straight home after visiting the school," he answered.

"You're really going to listen to Temari? After the rebellious years _you've_ had?" Sakura inquired sarcastically.

"Of course, I'd listen to Temari. She's my dear older sister, and I shouldn't do anything to upset her," he smirked with a roll of his eyes.

"That and she's scary as hell when you piss her off?" Sakura added with a raised brow. Gaara sighed, refusing to answer the question causing Sakura to laugh.

"No worries. I can just go over to your house. I'm sure Temari won't mind, and I know Kankuro is cool with it," she replied.

He shrugged, and with that, Sakura her backpack on her shoulders and followed him out. To be honest, even though he had his dangerous moments, she felt a little relieved.

* * *

Kitty-chan: So here's the beginning of my new story. Review if you want me to continue. If not . . . then don't review I guess. I accept all kinds of reviews by the way, so flamers, critics, etc. don't be afraid to tell me off. Ha-ha anyway: Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Kitty-chan: There is a little OOCness in this chapter, so if you would, just ignore it, and it will pass soon. If you don't like OOCness, then just skip this chapter when you get to the ~(^-^)~. Hope you guys like it.

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Sasori: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto_.

"You drive okay, right?" Sakura asked after buckling up in the passenger seat of Gaara's red black mustang. He gave her an apathetic stare.

"You're really asking me that _after_ you get in the car?" he questioned.

"Well . . ." Sakura started, dragging the word out. Gaara sighed and cranked the car.

"Stay if you want a ride, get out if you don't," he declared getting straight to the point. He wasn't looking at her, instead picking some object far off in the distance. Sakura stayed. She didn't know what force in the world told her to trust _Gaara_, but it did and it acted as a relaxer, calming her as she sat back in her seat and stared out the passenger window. Gaara took that as consent to begin driving and it wasn't long before they were on the highway and on the way to his house.

He was actually a pretty good driver. Despite owning a mustang, he stayed only a mile or two above the speed limit, and he followed all of the rules of the road—a far cry from what she experienced while riding in the car with Kankuro driving.

"You're actually a pretty good driver," Sakura piped up.

Gaara nodded and glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes for a split second.

"I have a passenger. I can't drive recklessly. It could result in an accident, and when there's a passenger in the car, I can't afford to have an accident," he answered monotonously. Sakura nodded, turning her gaze back to the rushing trees and houses outside her window. She knew the objects were stationary, but it seemed that—as they passed them—the trees and houses were leaning in the opposite direction of where they were going.

"The trees look funny," she blurted. She knew that if he could stare at her, he would give her one of those raised-brow, skeptic stares that made her think he was thinking she was nuts.

"Sorry . . ." she mumbled sheepishly " . . . they just look like they're leaning away, like wherever we're go they want to be as far away as possible," she explained quietly.

Gaara tensed suddenly, but just as quickly as he did, he relaxed. Sakura wasn't even sure if she had seen it or not.

"You okay?" she asked. He glanced over at her and nodded.

_'Great . . . commence with the unresponsiveness . . .'_ she thought to herself.

It was a long drive back to his house.

~(^-^)~

Gaara was a better tutor than Sakura had thought he would be. He made everything they did look so easy.

"So this is what you do?" Sakura asked working on an "easy" problem. Gaara glanced down at her paper and nodded.

"Geez . . . I'm going to need you in my other math classes next year if I ever _hope_ to survive them," she laughed sheepishly.

"Why don't you just take a regular class?" he asked, saying something non-math-related for the first time since they had gotten started.

"Because then I might not get the scholarship I want. I want to become a doctor, so I'll have to go to med school, and med school is very expensive. If I get a scholarship, then I won't have to worry so much about how I'm going to earn money to pay bills _and_ tuition. I can just worry about the bills," she explained as she completed the next problem he had written down. Gaara stared at her.

"What?" she asked, acknowledging his stare.

"You talk too much," he answered, turning back to the paper and writing down yet another problem for her to work. Sakura stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

"More?" she grimaced when he slid the paper over to her.

"Yes. You hesitated too much on that last problem. It's best if you learn it enough that you'll no longer hesitate," he answered. "That way you spend less time worrying about if you got the right answers on the test," he added. She sighed but commenced to solve each problem.

"I do not talk too much," he grumbled, shooting a glare in his direction. It was like she hadn't heard a word come out of his mouth.

"Yes, and I steal cookies from the jar when Temari isn't looking," he sighed, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Sakura gave him an odd stare.

"You steal cookies when Temari isn't looking?" she asked.

Gaara cringed, wishing he hadn't said that out loud, and an evil grin spread across her lips.

"Ooh . . . I'm telling Tema," she taunted from her seat. Gaara narrowed his eyes at her.

"You wouldn't," he growled.

"Oh, but I would," she grinned, producing a cell phone from the depths of her pocket. Gaara lunged for the phone, his fingertips barely brushing her shirt as she bolted from her seat.

"Why so determined to stop me? Scared of what Tema might do?" she teased with a giggle as he lunged for her again.

She bolted from the room and up the stairs. Gaara chased after her. She shrieked when she felt his fingertips graze her back, and sprinted even faster through the halls. It was a time like this that made Gaara curse the fact that she came over to her house almost every day.

"Kankuro, save me!" she shrieked as she passed his door. She was starting to slow down and all her laughing wasn't helping her run any faster.

The slam of a car door echoed through the house from outside, and Sakura cried out in victory.

"Ha-ha! It's her!" she yelled and made a sharp turn down another hall. Gaara cursed; he had almost had her. Nevertheless, he knew a faster way to beat her downstairs.

He made it down just in time because right as she was bolting down the stairs, he stepped in front of her at the bottom of the landing, and captured her, trying desperately to get her to quit wiggling.

"Let me go! Let me go! I gotta tell Tema!" she giggled, then swiped her leg behind his knee effectively dead-legging him, and tried to move out of his grasp.

Gaara wasn't going down without a fight though. When he fell, he took her with him, but she was fast and was already on her knees. He grabbed one of her ankles and pulled her back—before she could get anywhere near the front door—while at the same time he struggled to get to his feet.

"Let go!" Sakura whined, another peel of laughter escaped. She was now kicking at him and trying to pull herself away and—.

The door swung open, and Temari stopped in the middle of the doorway. The sight of seeing her youngest brother grappling on the floor with Sakura both confused her and made her want to give them some privacy all at the same time. Temari didn't know what to do much less what to say.

Sakura's eyes gleamed with evil delight when she spotted the blond at the door. She opened her mouth, a wide Cheshire grin plastered on her lips.

"Tema—" Gaara clapped a hand over her mouth before she could say anything, and stood up bringing her with him, her back pressed to his chest. Sakura was still trying to talk and break free of his hold, but Gaara had a death grip on her. Suddenly, she bit his hand and he immediately released her. Sakura rushed forward and hid behind Temari, looking over the blonde's shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him.

"What's all this about?" Temari demanded, her brows scrunching up in confusion.

"Nothing," Gaara declared immediately before Sakura could say anything, but the pinkette had other plans.

"Gaara steals cookies when you aren't looking," she tattled childishly.

"I know," Temari replied.

"Ha! See she—wait—you know?" Sakura questioned. "What do you mean you know?"

"I mean: _I know_," Temari declared. "Is this what all . . . _that_ was about?" she added staring at them incredulously.

Sakura and Gaara both looked down at their feet sheepishly, a blush crossing Sakura's cheeks, and Gaara scowled.

"Well . . ." Sakura started. "Yep."

Temari sighed, took off her shoes and started up the stairs.

"Just make sure you clean up any mess you've made," she ordered with a wave behind her.

Gaara glared at Sakura who in turn smiled broadly. He started to advance on her, and she stumbled backward, her childish smile fading into a scared one.

"C-come on, Gaara. You know I was just kidding," she stuttered, her heart pounding in anticipation of what he would do. He never stopped though, continuing forward until he was in reaching distance. Then, he took her wrist and dragged her back into the kitchen, pushing her toward her chair.

"Aw . . . I thought we were finished . . ." she grumbled. Gaara shook his head.

_'Back to the unresponsiveness,'_ she thought with a sigh.

She sighed again, the gloom and depression of having to study instantly destroying all of her giddiness.

Kitty-chan: Well, that was a short chapter, but I hope you liked anyway. I'll try to work on the other chapters and make them longer. If you have any suggestions as to how you want this to go, just send me a PM or review or whatever. Review Please!

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P.S. Recommend my stories to your friends n family n stuff, it makes me happy to get nice reviews from you guys, and it motivates me to continue writing. Okies then, Ciao.


	3. Chapter 3

Kitty-chan: Sorry. This—as well—is a short chapter. I really tried to make it longer, but nothing else I wrote would fit, so I just kept it at its original length. I hope you like it anyway.

Deidara: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto_, hmm.

* * *

They had both spaced out. Sakura was once again at the Sabakus's house studying for her math test. Gaara had been waiting for her to finish a practice test, and as Sakura worked she spaced out, thinking about the Junior-Senior Camping Trip. Kankuro was going, and they—including Naruto and Kiba—were going to start planning pranks all together tomorrow when she didn't have to worry about studying for a big test. Ideas were already spinning through her head.

Her daydream snapped when she saw a few shadowy tendrils creeping across the table toward her. Well, not _her_ but just outward across the table. Sakura followed the shadow to its source and it almost didn't surprise her that it was Gaara. He was bent over a piece of paper slowly sketching a shadowy picture of a room. A child was sleeping peacefully amidst the evil and seemingly giddy-looking shapes and shadows swarming around him, dancing around him gleefully. She blinked and the shadows were gone, almost as if she had imagined everything. The piece of paper now just showed a child sleeping peacefully in a calm and nice room. Sakura's brows furrowed in confusion.

_'What the hell?'_ she thought.

"Where did the shadows go?" she asked. He froze, having forgotten that she was in the room.

"What shadows?" he asked, playing it off as if he didn't know what she was talking about. It worked because she blinked, squinted at the picture again, and shook her head.

"Must've been my imagination . . ." she muttered under her breath.

"Hallucinations are a sign of insanity. You might want to get that checked out," he murmured, returning to his English assignment. Sakura returned his statement with a glare.

"What are you working on anyway?" she asked, her face relaxing.

"English project . . ." he answered. She waited for him to elaborate and sighed when she realized that that was as much of an explanation as she was going to get.

Sakura returned to her paper and finished it faster than she used to. She then passed it over to Gaara for him to check her accuracy.

"You're mostly correct. You started getting slop—"

"Hey, Saks. Are you done yet? Me and Naruto need your strategic brain," Kankuro interrupted.

"Why? You guys get a lapse in your plan?" she asked. They weren't supposed to start planning yet, but she guessed with Naruto being in their pranking group this year he would get overly excited and would want to start as soon as possible.

"Yeah," Kankuro smiled. "Besides all Naruto can think of is filling water-balloons with all kinds of random shit and dropping them on people's heads," Kankuro rolled his eyes.

Gaara sat patiently, waiting for them to finish talking, but when they didn't stop any time soon, he wrote down the problems he wanted her to do—explaining how to work them and what she was getting wrong—gathered his things, and started to leave. Sakura didn't notice until he was almost out the door.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Gaara. We can pick back up on this tomorrow, okay?" she asked. He merely shrugged, giving her a slight wave and walked out. Sakura's happy expression deflated in an instant, and a guilty pang gnawed at her heart.

"What's wrong?" Kankuro asked, not liking to see Sakura look so upset.

"Nothing . . ." she finally answered, tearing her eyes away from where Gaara had been standing in the doorway.

"Okay . . ." Kankuro hesitated, not fully convinced.

"Come on. Let's go talk pranks," she flashed a false smile, and they proceeded up the stairs to Kankuro's room where Naruto was waiting.

~(^-^)~

There was seriously something wrong with her. Sakura lay on her bed fuming.

First, she was sad because Gaara left her during their study session. She felt bad that she had completely ignored him.

Now she was mad. How dare he leave her? It wasn't like she had no other life outside of their study sessions. And for him to blow her off like he had when she was talking to him? It was completely unnecessary.

_'Why am I getting so upset about this? It's not like we're a couple,'_ she thought angrily.

To calm down, she went to take a shower.

-Showering-

When she got out, she felt refreshed and relaxed. After wrapping her hair up in a towel and pulling on her fluffy black bathrobe, she went downstairs to pour some juice.

"What are you doing?" a female voice snapped. Sakura cringed, caught in the act of putting the juice back into the fridge.

"Getting some juice," she answered turning to face her stepmom.

Her stepmom, Ame, was a busty brunette who thought that Sakura was a whorish drug addict who died her hair and made mistakes purposely to make her mad.

"Don't lie to me," she snapped.

"I'm not lying. I'm just getting some juice," Sakura insisted.

"Uh-huh . . . why are you taking a shower so late? Is there a boy in your room?" she snapped.

"No, I—" she didn't give her time to finish.

"That's just like you. You're a little whore just like your mother," Ame barked.

"That's not true!" Sakura protested.

"What's going on in here?" a male voice called from the doorway of the kitchen. That's when the waterworks began.

"Oh, Hiro. I was just in here checking on Sakura. I just wanted to talk to her, but then she started yelling at me," Ame cried.

"Oh, please," Sakura rolled her eyes. "She's the one who came in here and started yelling at me," she explained to her father.

"See look. Now, she's accusing me of lying. What am I going to do, Hiro? I'm just trying to be nice," she cried. Of course he takes her side.

"It's okay, Ame . . . Go back to bed. I'll be there in a minute," he murmured.

"Okay . . ." she sniffed. "Don't yell at her. I know she just feels awkward having a new mother and all," she lied, and once Hiro turned his back on her, Ame smirked in her direction and left.

"Sakura—"

"I don't want to have this conversation," she interrupted him and started to leave, juice forgotten on the table.

"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking," he commanded. Sakura froze . . . She _hated_ it when he talked to her like that. Like she was a dog that didn't realize that chewing on the furniture was a bad thing.

She turned back around but refused to look at him.

"Why can't you just be nice to her? Why do I have to have this talk with you every time I catch you two alone?" he demanded, his brown eyes were sad and filled with grief.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't want an apology. I want an answer."

"Why would I give you my answer when you're just going to take _her_ side?"

"I'm not just going to take her side, Sakura."

"Fine. You want answers? She's lying to you."

"Here we go again. Sakura, Ame and I love and trust each other. I know she wouldn't lie to me."

"And you think _I_ would?"

He didn't answer her.

"And here you go again taking _her_ side. I really love the support, Dad," she mumbled hurt playing with her heart. She turned and started to leave.

"Sakura . . ." Hiro started; she ignored him. "Sakura, come back . . . I'm not through with this conversation," he called after her.

"Well, I am!" she shouted back.

"Sakura, get down here!" She kept walking.

"I'm going to count to three and you better be down here!" he shouted. By this time she had made it to her door at the top of the stairs.

"I'm not four, Dad!" she yelled, and with that she entered her room and slammed the door.

"Fine! If you want to act that way, you're grounded!" his muffled shouts sounded through her door.

Sakura stripped of her robe and towel and got dressed, throwing on some underwear, a tank top, and a pair of sweatpants. After combing her hair, she commenced to lying down on her bed, curling up on her side, and trying to go to sleep. Tears threatened to spill over, but she forced them back and focused on the deep nothingness that was sleep.

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Kitty-chan: Well, like I said: it was a short chapter. I hope you liked it, and don't forget to review.

P.S. If you got confused on how I tried to pluralize Sabaku I'm sorry. I didn't really know how to make it a plural possessive.


	4. Chapter 4

Kitty-chan: Well, here's chapter 4. I don't really have much to say on this one except thank you to everyone who reviewed. I enjoy your reviews; they keep me motivated to continue this story that's about to get a whole lot weirder. Well . . . enjoy.

Kisame: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

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Chapter 4

Being grounded sucked. That meant she couldn't even go studying afterschool with Gaara much less get to hang out with Kankuro and Temari or any of her other friends. What it also meant, though, was that she would be spending more time with Her Evilness—a name Sakura had given to Ame. Sakura shuddered at the thought.

"Hey, Saks. You need a ride over to my place?" Kankuro asked her while she was doodling. They had the same art class.

"Sorry, I can't, Kankuro. You, Naruto, and Kiba will have to plot without me," Sakura shook her head.

"Studying? You should tell Gaara to give you a break. You're doing better than I've seen you ever do," he declared.

"No. It's not that," Sakura chuckled.

"Oh. Then what is it?"

"I'm grounded."

"Really? How long?"

"Indefinably."

"Ouch . . . What'd you do?"

"Accused Her Evilness of lying."

"Oh. That sucks."

"Tell me about it."

Kankuro watched Sakura crumple up the piece of paper she was doodling on and throw it away. He could tell she was upset.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. She knew what he meant, but she asked anyway.

"About what?" she replied, pulling out another piece of paper.

"About what happened last night," he answered.

Sakura paused, a sudden wave of melancholy washing over her, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"Nah, I'm good. I really want to talk pranks while I'm still able to go on the trip," she grinned mischievously, and then she and Kankuro commenced to talk about what kind of pranks they would be pulling during the trip and how not to get caught.

~(^-^)~

It was very boring at home with nothing to do. Luckily her father let her keep her phone in case of emergency, so she at least had a little bit of entertainment. Unfortunately no one was able to call or text her. Ino was at cheer practice, Hinata and Naruto were on a movie date with Tenten and Neji, Kankuro and Kiba were playing on Xbox Live with Shikamaru and Choji, and Temari was at work. That left her with no one to talk to. Suddenly her phone vibrated, signaling an incoming text.

_I heard you got grounded,_ the message said. The number was unlisted though.

_Who is this?_ Sakura answered back.

_Gaara_, he sent.

_Oh. How did you get my number?_

_ Kankuro._

_ Oh. OK. So . . . Is there something you need?_

_ Just wanted to see how bored you are._

_ Why?_

_ To see how badly you would want a jailbreak._

_ Dude, I would love you forever._ She smiled.

_Be right there._

It didn't take long. After only ten minutes she received another text from Gaara.

_I'm outside. 2 houses to the left of your front door_, he texted.

Sakura didn't even reply. She flipped her phone shut and began taking precautions to keep her father and Her Evilness from entering her room while she was gone. She dug in the nightstand next to her door, pulling out the 'Do NOT Enter: Studying' sign and taping it to the outside of her door at eye level. Neither Her Evilness or her father would think about bothering her with this sign on her door—Her Evilness made that mistake the last time Sakura was actually studying and she never did it again.

She quickly moved to the other side of her room to her window and opened it. She climbed out as quietly as she could without alarming her father or Her Evilness. She crept across the two-inch strip of wood that lined the side of her house until she reached the tree half-leaning half-growing from her side of the house and shimmied down until her feet were planted solidly on the ground.

She was careful not to run past windows in case her father or Her Evilness happened to glance out of one and catch her, and once she was on her neighbor's side of the fence she bolted down the sidewalk toward the black Mustang parked where Gaara said it would be.

As soon as she was in the car he looked over at her heaving form as she started to buckle her seat belt.

"You know a dude is an infected hair on an elephant's ass," he finally said.

"What?" Sakura questioned. She wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"A dude is an infected hair on an elephant's ass," he repeated.

Sakura's expression twisted into one of disgust.

"And you know that how?" she raised a brow at him.

"I read a lot," he shrugged. Sakura laughed.

"I'll be sure to remember that the next time Naruto or Kankuro piss me off," she chuckled. Gaara tried to keep his face passive as he stared at her, but Sakura still noticed as his lips twitched upward if only slightly.

"What?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"You're really gullible," He chuckled and efficiently surprising Sakura. She didn't know he even had the ability to smile much less laugh.

"You're a meanie," Sakura pouted childishly. Gaara, rolled his eyes, and with a smirk he started the car and began driving.

"So . . . What's on the agenda for today?" she asked and received a shrug in reply.

"Well, is there anything in particular you would like to do?" she asked. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "I'll take that as a no . . ."

"Is there anything _you_ would like to do?" he asked, praying she wouldn't say shopping. He really didn't know her enough to know what she liked to do in her spare time.

"You want to go to the arcade?" she asked after a moment of contemplation. He nodded and veered off in the direction of their town's arcade.

When they entered the surprisingly large building there was nothing but noise: young boys and random girl raging or cheering over their wins and losses, a few teenage boys (probably having a championship match), and the sounds of the machines.

"Hey, Saks. It's been a while. Where's the champion been hiding for the past month?" the worker at the register asked her as they walked in.

"Hey, Yamato. I've actually been doing a lot of studying. No video games if I don't keep up my grades," she joked.

"Math again?" Sakura sighed, smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah . . ." she answered. "That's actually why I'm here. My tutor here is treating me to games," she gestured to Gaara who was silently waiting for her to finish her chat. He grimaced at her exclamation.

"I'm what—"

Nice chatting with you, Yamato, but I need to go defend my champion title. I haven't been playing for a while, so hopefully no one's caught up too closely," she replied and dragged Gaara off with her to the machines.

"It's my treat?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Well, it was your idea to come here," she smiled.

"Actually it was your idea," he disagreed.

"That's beside the point. Come on let's get some coins," she exclaimed, excitedly hurrying toward the token machine.

After Gaara grudgingly fed his money into the machine, Sakura dragged him to the machine she knew many people would have caught up to her on: _Pac Man_.

"You want to challenge me?" she asked Gaara, who merely shrugged. They each fed a coin in the machine and the game began. Sakura still had the top score, but others were starting to catch up.

"You can go first," she offered, gesturing toward the game. Gaara shrugged again and started playing, defeating level after level without dying. Sakura laughed.

"It was probably a bad idea to bring you here. You might beat all my scores," she chuckled.

He smirked, glancing in her direction, and suddenly the screen flashed and signaled for Player 2 to begin. Sakura didn't know for sure, but she was pretty sure that Gaara just died on purpose.

"Beginner's luck," he replied with a shrug.

Sakura worked the same way Gaara did: defeat multiple levels until she reached the level he was on and died on purpose. She shot ahead of him by a mere 100 points.

The game continued until they were both on their last lives. They would shoot ahead several levels, one of them always staying in then lead, and then kill themselves when they felt they had progressed far enough far enough.

"Stop trying to save my Gamer Pride," she scolded with a laugh. "I know you can do better."

"So can you, but you're also dying on purpose," he pointed out with a raised brow.

"Fine. This is the last life. This time we go all out; hold nothing back," she declared. Gaara smirked and turned to the screen. He was going through levels like they were a piece of cake. Sakura watched him, forcing herself not to watch the score. She wasn't getting nervous.

When Gaara finally died—for real this time—he had shot way ahead. Sakura glanced only once at the score. He had long since surpassed her high score.

"That good enough for you?" he asked.

Sakura smirked. "I can beat this," she declared, and the game began.

She was getting so close. She didn't even have to look at the score to know. The closer she got the tenser she became until finally she passed the score and was on to a new level.

"Ha!" she cried out in victory when she finally died. "I won!" Without thinking, she hugged Gaara, but when he froze she quickly pulled away.

"Sorry . . ." she mumbled nervously, her cheeks flushing furiously. "Thanks for the challenge. Kankuro sucks at these games, so he's no fun to play with," she replied.

"No problem," he shrugged, moving toward the screen to select his second place initials. When he stepped away so Sakura could enter her initials, she froze.

"_You're GNS_?" she asked incredulously. He shrugged yet again, and Sakura thought that she might just twitch if he shrugged again.

"Yeah, why?"

"So _you're_ the guy whose score I've been trying to defeat on every single one of these games for months on end?" she asked.

"You just basically declared you have no life, but yeah," he answered nonchalantly.

"Shut up . . ." she muttered in embarrassment. "Dude, you are a . . . a video game_ hero_," she proclaimed.

"Not anymore. I've been surpassed, so that makes _you_ the hero now," he disagreed.

"Oh . . ." Sakura blinked. "But still: you're a _legend_," she declared with a wide grin. "Come on. Let's play more games," she added, a challenging twinkle in her eyes.

Sakura grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the next game.

By the end of the day they each had a tied score. Sakura won all the classics like _Pac Man, Galaga, _and half of the shooting games while Gaara won most of the fighting games, the other half of the shooting games, and most of the other more modern games. It was still a pretty good challenge, and it drew in a pretty big crowd. The crowd didn't seem to want to let them leave without a tiebreaker though. Sakura glanced back at Gaara.

"Well . . . we didn't really play a real game of _Pac Man_. Do you want that to be the tiebreaker?" she asked Gaara, and he shrugged causing Sakura's eye to twitch. She took that as a yes.

"Alright. _Pac Man_ it is," she replied, and the crowd cheered.

The game couldn't seem to end, but eventually it did, and Gaara won by about 300—give or take a few—points. Sakura congratulated him and they left.

"That was really fun. We should do it again sometime," she replied once they were in his car.

"Yeah, the next time you need a break from being grounded and I just so happen to have forty bucks to waste," he rolled his eyes but the slight tug upward on his lips let Sakura know he was teasing.

It was already dark out, and Sakura knew she had probably been caught by now, but at the moment she didn't care.

"You want to grab something to eat? I'm starving?" she declared. She was probably already in trouble, so why not have a little more fun while she was at it. Besides, she liked hanging out with Gaara.

"I'll pay," she added when he gave her an incredulous look. "Your choice."

"Sure . . ." he replied and started the car. It wasn't long before he stopped in front of a nice looking Chinese restaurant and he was opening her car door for her.

"Thanks," she murmured shyly. He seemed to have a habit of being chivalrous, which embarrassed Sakura, but she didn't know how to get him to stop without offending him. She followed him inside and after being seated they ordered their meal. It didn't take long for the food to get to their table.

"So . . . why did you decide to spring me from my jail cell?" Sakura asked after swallowing a bite of chicken fried rice.

Gaara shrugged—twitch—and Sakura turned back to her plate, thinking that was going to be the end of the conversation.

"I didn't there was a good reason you were being grounded. You don't seem like the rebellious type. That and I didn't have anything else to do this afternoon," he declared, and stabbed a large chunk of teriyaki chicken with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth.

"Gee thanks. And here I was thinking it was because you cared," she joked. He gave her a blank stare.

"What would give you that idea?" he asked with a raised brow and if she hadn't caught him trying not to smirk she would have thought he was serious.

"You meanie," she laughed and threw a pea at his head. He easily moved out of its path and continued eating.

* * *

Kitty-chan: that was chapter 4. Review if you think it was good, bad, if you think I need to find a better hobby. I appreciate all reviews no matter how mean ^-^


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty-chan: Sorry for the long wait. Fanfiction decided that they didn't like the rating on my story _Always_ so they took off my story and prohibited me from updating until four days ago haha. And then I procrastinated and now I finally have the chapter up. Hope you like it.

Pein: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

Chapter 5

When she got home she actually wasn't in any trouble. Well, she hadn't been caught at least.

It was almost eight when she crawled back through her window, meaning that the studying note on her door would have been there for four hours. It was a little past believable even for her but as long as no questions were asked in the morning she didn't care. She'd come up with some believable excuse anyway.

She gathered some clothes to take to the bathroom with her, and acted surprised that the note was still on her door as she left for the bathroom. She quickly snatched the note from its resting place and shoved it back into the drawer of the night stand right inside her bedroom. She then proceeded down the hall to the bathroom.

—Showering—

Once she was all clean, dressed, and resting comfortably on her bed she pulled out her phone and began a text.

_Hey. Sorry I haven't talked to you in a while. Her Evilness has been watching over me too closely. I'm bringing my math grade up, but now I'm grounded. Wish you were still here. xoxo._ Send.

_I'm sorry you're grounded, Honey. I miss you too. Not much is happening here. I'm getting a little lonely 'cause no one's asked me out yet. lol._ The text came in faster than Sakura had expected.

_You're not supposed to wait for the man to come to you, Mom. Ha-ha. Good luck in the man-hunting. I'll stay in touch._ Send.

_OK. Love you, Sweetheart._

_ Love you too, Mom._ Send.

Sakura sighed and laid down. She missed her mom, but she guessed if a relationship didn't work out there was no need to stay in it. That reminded her.

_Oh, yeah, Mom. Don't get too desperate or close on the first date. Remember: if the relationship doesn't work out, don't force it._ Send.

_I know, dear. I'll be careful._

Sakura smiled and put her phone on her night stand. She was just settling down to go to sleep when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Kankuro.

_Heard you went to the arcade? Was it fun?_ he asked.

_ Yeah. It was amazing beyond belief. I didn't know Gaara was actually the legendary GNS._ Send.

_Cool. Did you beat him?_

_No. I wish though._ Send.

_ Aw. Well, better luck next time. What are you doing?_ He was always quick to change the subject.

_Trying to sleep._ Send.

_Oh, do you want me to text you later?_

_ Nah. You're good. I was really only going to bed just to have something to do. Being grounded is so boring._ Send.

_OK. Well, I gotta go anyway. Sorry. But meet me by the fountain tomorrow OK? I have to ask you something._

_ Jerk . . . Why not ask me now?_ Send.

_Ha-ha. I'd rather ask you in person._

_ Oh. OK. I'll see you tomorrow then._ Send.

_See you._

_'That was strange . . .'_ she thought to herself, but returned her phone to the night stand and laid back down to sleep.

~(^-^)~

It was strange that morning when she went downstairs for breakfast . . . and very awkward.

Her Evilness and her dad were grossly happy—Sakura didn't even want to know the details as to why they were—and Her Evilness was being unusually nice. Usually she'd be nice in front of her dad, but be a complete bitch when he left or turned away from them.

_'There must be something in the water,'_ she thought, pushing her glass of water away from her with her spoon.

"Okay . . . well, this is awkward, so I'm just going to go to school," she declared, getting up and leaving the table.

"Okay. Have a nice day," Her Evilness replied, causing Sakura to shudder. They were in one of . . . _those_ moods.

"Hey, Dad, can I spend the night at Temari's house tonight?" she asked before she had completely left the kitchen.

"Hmm?" he had been staring at Her Evilness. "Oh, sure, sure. Have fun," and with that Sakura bolted. Whenever they got into one of _those_ moods she wanted to be as far away from the house as she could get.

Once she was outside and had started walking down the street she called Kankuro. He picked up on the last ring.

"Hey," he answered.

"Hey, Kankuro. I need you to come pick me up. They're—"

"I understand," he answered. "Be there in a few," he added already knowing where she would be waiting.

Sakura waited on the wall bordering her neighborhood's park. It wasn't long before Kankuro's black Bugatti pulled up and the driver's side window rolled down. A messy brown head of hair with dark purple outlined eyes underneath poked out of the window.

"You called?" he replied. Sakura smiled, hopped down from her perch on the wall, and joined him in the car.

"Thanks, Kankuro. I owe you one," Sakura thanked, buckling up before Kankuro had time to speed out of there and toward the school.

"No problem. Do you need a place to stay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Dad said I could stay with you guys," she answered.

"Okay. I'll call Tema later and tell her," he nodded. Sakura shrugged.

"Oh, yeah. Yesterday you said you had something to ask me," Sakura waited.

"Um . . . yeah . . . I was, uh, wondering if, you know, you wanted to, uh, hang out sometime?" he asked, his cheeks darkening a bit. Sakura gave him an odd look, a nervous feeling building in her gut.

"What do you mean? We hang out all the time?" she asked hesitantly.

"I mean, _out _. . . like on a date," he amended, shooting her nervous glances.

"Oh . . . um, okay," she smiled, unsure of what to say. She had never thought about having any romantic feelings toward Kankuro, but she guessed she could try instead of just shooting him down.

"Cool," Kankuro smiled, immediately relaxing. Suddenly it got really awkward.

Sakura didn't know what to say or do. What were you _supposed_ to do when your best friend asked you out?

Then Kankuro made it even more awkward—at least for her—by reaching over to the passenger side and taking her hand in his. The awkwardness lasted until he finally spoke up.

"I've kinda always wanted to do this," he murmured.

"What are you talking about? You've held my hand before," Sakura replied, a slight blush staining her cheeks.

"Not like this," he sighed contentedly, a shy smile playing on his lips. He squeezed her hand lightly. Sakura still didn't know how she really felt about this. On one hand she was happy, but on the other she felt guilty, like she was betraying someone.

Kankuro held her hand as they walked through the school and it was suddenly like he had forgotten himself. He was no longer chivalrous, no longer carrying her books or opening the door for her like he used to. It was just little stuff but something about it nagged at her in the back of her head.

"See you later, Kankuro," she replied once they made it to her classroom .

"See ya," he replied and was off toward his own class.

Sakura maneuvered her way past backpacks and other belongings to the back of the classroom where she usually sat by Gaara. He wasn't looking at her, nor did he look up in greeting.

"Hey," she greeted. He didn't say anything.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, a hint of worry coating her voice.

What had happened? He was perfectly fine last night. What did she do to go back to the Unresponsiveness-Square One?  
She sighed and glanced down at what he was doing. He was writing.

Sakura had always loved Gaara's handwriting, even when they were little and he didn't even talk to her. She would lay on the floor next to him and watch him do his homework, watching every swoop and turn of his pencil. Somehow it would calm her, and it still did, but this time as she watched him write, the black ink on the paper seemed to ooze an unsettling darkness. Shadows like the ones she had seen when he was drawing started to spread across the page, starting with one letter and consuming another until the entire page was black and the shadowy tendrils were now spreading across the table. This time, though, unlike the last time where the shadows danced across the table with evil delight, these shadows spread like tar and were filled with malevolence and hatred.

"Gaara?" Sakura called, the tendrils were slowly creeping up his arm. He didn't move or even acknowledge her call.

"_Gaara_," she called again, but a little more forcefully this time. Now the tendrils were moving toward her, and she was starting to get scared. Everyone else seemed to be oblivious to the predicament.

Sakura, scared out of her mind now at the shadows that were spreading faster and faster with each word he wrote, leaned forward and lightly shoved Gaara's shoulder. He blinked, she blinked, and the shadows were gone. Her hand still remained on her shoulder.

"What's going on?" she asked, now trembling. He wouldn't even look at her, just shrugged off her hand, stood up, and bolted out of the classroom.

"Mr. Sabaku, we're in the middle of class," the teacher declared warningly.

"He's about to be sick," Sakura lied quickly as Gaara fled the room.

Their teacher paused for only a moment and then continued on with the lecture.

_'Wow . . . That's never worked before,'_ she thought to herself. _'He'll usually go check just to at least be sure . . . Gaara must be special,'_ she added.

By the time class had ended, Sakura had completely forgotten about Kankuro and was on her way to the parking lot to see if Gaara was still there when he caught up to her.

"Hey, why didn't you wait for me?" he asked in greeting.

"Oh, sorry . . . Gaara was just acting funny in class today, and he left early. I'm just trying to find him to see if he's okay," she explained as he took her hand and started leading her to her next class.

"Gaara will be fine. He knows how to take care of himself," Kankuro assured her, and she could swear she heard a hint of . . . _jealously_?

"But—"

"He's fine," Kankuro's tone made it clear to her that he was through with the conversation. Sakura was starting to wonder where he was getting this jerky attitude because it certainly wasn't like him. She shrugged it off, planning on talking to him about it at a later time.

~(^-^)~

The day was dragging on forever, and there still was no sign of Gaara. Sakura searched the parking lot as Kankuro led her through it toward his car and noticed that Gaara's spot was empty. This was no surprise, but Sakura's heart sank to see his black mustang missing.

Sakura climbed into Kankuro's car and endured the ride back to his house, which didn't take long, but Sakura still hated the way he drove.

Once at the house, he got out and started toward the front door, not stopping to let Sakura out like he usually did. This angered her slightly as she got out of the car and moved to Kankuro's side.

"Looks like Gaara isn't here . . ." he mumbled to himself, opening the door and then closing it behind them.

"So we're here alone?" Sakura asked, gulping mentally. She still didn't know how she felt about dating Kankuro, and she wasn't sure how much Kankuro liked her.

_'Is that a good idea?'_ she thought.

"Probably not," she heard Kankuro answer.

"So Temari's here?" she asked.

"No, I was answering your second question," he smirked, advancing on her. Okay so she _thought_ she was thinking the question, and now she knew how much Kankuro liked her.

She started to back up, but each step he took were like two of hers, so it didn't take long before they were inches away from touching, and he had her backed against the door. His face was getting closer and closer to hers until suddenly his lips were pressed against her own. His eyes were closed, but hers were open as they kissed. It was such a strange sensation.

Suddenly, Kankuro's kisses became more feverish, his hands started roaming down her sides toward her waist. When he finally broke the kiss it was for air. He pressed his forehead to hers and smiled.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he breathed.

Sakura smiled up at him as he pulled away, taking her hand and leading her to the kitchen. They each grabbed a drink, Sakura grabbing a few cookies while she was at it, and headed up to his room.

He plopped down on his bed and she joined him, opening her can of Coke with a loud crack. Kankuro opened his Mountain Dew as well. Sakura wrinkled her nose at the can as he took a sip.

"Mountain Dew is gross," she grumbled, taking a sip of her own drink.

"You say that every time you see me drink one," he chuckled.

"That's because it's true," she declared.

"I know how to make it better," he smirked, then he leaned over and kissed her again. When he pulled away, she was smiling.

"I guess that _is_ a little better," she replied shyly. Kankuro smiled widely and kissed her again. Sakura tilted her head to the side to get a better angle. She really had no idea what she was doing since she had never been kissed like this before, but she felt this was right. A low squeak leaked out when she felt Kankuro's tongue touch her lower lip, and she parted her lips to let his tongue explore her mouth. Tentatively she touched his tongue with her own. She didn't know how long they had been kissing, but she was jarred out of her stupor when she felt Kankuro's hand try to slip under her shirt. She swatted his hand away.

"Stop," she mumbled through the kiss. When had he climbed on top of her? He tried again, but with the same results, and then he went for the button on her jeans.

"_Kankuro_!" she scolded, sitting up and pushing him off of her. He backed away gasping for air.

"Sorry . . . I just . . . I just got carried away," he apologized.

"What is with you today?" she cried, trying to straighten her clothes.

"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion.

"You've been such a jerk," she declared as if it were obvious.

"Come on, Saks. I said I was sorry," he said, his voice raising to an almost yell.

"It's not just that, Kankuro. All day it's like you've forgotten how to be nice. It's like all your chivalry before was just an act."

"What chivalry? I've acted the same today as I do every day, except maybe to show a little more affection. I'm not even sure if chivalry is even still done these days."

"Whatever, Kankuro. You used to carry my books for me, hold open doors for me, and stuff like that. After you asked me out it's like you forgot about all that."

"Sakura, I've _never_ done any of that stuff."

And with those words, the truth dawned on her: it wasn't _Kankuro_ that did all that stuff; it was _Gaara_. She felt like such an idiot.

"Would you like me to?" Kankuro asked quietly when she didn't say anything for a while. Sakura shook her head.

"No, it' fine . . ." she sighed. "I'm sorry . . . I've just had a really strange day," she added. Kankuro nodded, pulling her toward him to hold her comfortingly.

"It's okay . . ." he murmured and kissed her lightly. Sakura's eyes stayed open again. She wasn't able to concentrate on the kiss. All she could think about at the moment was: Where was Gaara, and why was she suddenly so obsessed with him?

* * *

Kitty-chan: Well there was the chapter. I hope you liked it. Please review n stuff. Reviews make me happy and make me update faster.


	6. Final Chapter

Kitty-chan: Well, guys, here's the last chapter until I get up the sequel: _Traipsing Dar__kness_. I hope you liked this story, and I hope you like this chapter. I'll try to get the sequel up as soon as possible, so be on the lookout for it ^_^

Konan: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

Chapter 6

Sakura had never felt more emotionally confused in her life. Walking downstairs to go have dinner with Temari and Gaara was not really at the top of her want list at the moment. At least she would be seeing if Gaara was okay. That was a plus.

Sakura couldn't help the sinking feeling she got when she noticed that Gaara wasn't at the table. Gaara _never_ missed dinner with his family. She never understood why, but it was always a given that he'd be at the table for dinner if he didn't call in before hand and say otherwise.

"Where's Gaara?" she asked Temari who simply shrugged.

"I haven't seen him at all today," she informed, a hint of worry in her voice.

"You guys need to relax. Gaara will come home when he's ready," Kankuro shrugged.

Suddenly, the front door opened and closed and a familiar redhead walked into the dining room.

"See. I told you," Kankuro sighed, sitting down next to Sakura where Gaara usually sat. Temari jumped up and rushed over to Gaara. Sakura would have if it wasn't for the feel of Kankuro's hand holding hers, weighing her to her seat.

"Are you okay? Where have you been? You know you're supposed to call me if you don't come straight home," she fussed, her hands fluttering near his body, close enough to touch but not quite.

Gaara didn't answer her. He simply walked past her and sat down in Kankuro's usual seat across from Sakura. If this wasn't usual behavior for Gaara, Temari might have been offended, but it was, so she just sighed and took her seat next to him.

Sakura looked up at Gaara; there was something different about him. Her eyes started scanning every inch of his body until to see what was different. She almost thought she had been imagining things until she looked at his eyes, which instead of the usual aqua green were now golden yellow. His eyes trapped her gaze as if he was trying to tell her something. The trance was broken when he finally spoke up, startling everyone at the table.

"It's rude to stare," he declared coolly. Sakura blinked and looked away.

"Sorry . . . something just seems . . . different," she mumbled taking a bite of her rice. Kankuro and Temari stared at them.

Gaara was now staring at her, seemingly scrutinizing her every movement. He smirked as if he had won some kind of silent challenge until she looked up and met his eyes again.

"So where did you go?" she asked. "You know, when you left."

Gaara shrugged. "You don't need to know."

"Okay . . . then what did you do? You couldn't have just done _nothing_ for ten hours," she pressed.

Gaara shrugged and this pissed Sakura off.

"Oh, great. Back to the unresponsiveness. No 'Thank you, Sakura, for covering for me while I just fucking flip out and leave class'? No 'Sorry for all the trouble, Sakura. I didn't mean to worry you'? You know, Gaara, that is _bullshit_!" she shouted, then she pushed away from the table and started to stalk away.

Suddenly, the lights went out and the room was shrouded in an uncomfortable blackness. Seconds later, when the lights flickered back on, Gaara was standing in front of her, glaring down on her.

"You don't know anything!" he snarled, the darkness flickering on and off around them. Kankuro and Temari were now staring at the two in horror.

"Then why don't you just tell me?" Sakura murmured, on the verge of tears.

At this, Gaara's expression changed from one of anger to one of regret.

"Sakura . . ." he murmured, reaching up to touch her, but the lights flickered out again, leaving them shrouded in black again, and when they turned back on a split second later with steady brightness, he was gone.

"No!" Sakura growled in frustration, tears now starting to spill over. In her anger, she turned and punched the wall. Her fist never left it though, and it turned into her leaning into it for support as she cried.

"Well, that just made our little spat seem just like a small disagreement," Kankuro sighed.

Sakura whirled around, glaring at him angrily. "Shut up, Kankuro!" she spat angrily, wiping away her tears with the heel of her palm.

"Tema, I need your keys," she croaked hoarsely.

"What's going on, Sakura?" Temari asked, not even acknowledging her request.

"I . . . I don't know," Sakura admitted. "I need your keys."

"They're on the table by the door," the older blond answered quietly, near tears herself.

Sakura turned to leave, but was stopped by a hand on her wrist.

"Wait, Sakura," Kankuro declared.

"Hurry, Kankuro. I don't have time, and I think Gaara is in trouble," she huffed, suddenly feeling more tired than she had ever felt in her whole life.

"When you were talking to me about all the nice stuff you thought I did earlier, were you confusing me with Gaara?" he asked, realization flashing in his eyes. Sakura didn't answer, opting to stare at the floor in shame. Kankuro released her.

"I'm sorry . . ." she murmured, and then she left, heading out the door and getting into Temari's silver Charger.

She had a hunch at where Gaara might be, and she was praying she was right.

Sakura sped in the direction of the arcade, driving as fast as the law would allow her. If he was there, though, the place was probably closed. She just hoped that when she got there nothing bad would have happened.

She knew he was there before she had even turned into the parking lot. The entire building was covered in dark, writhing shadows. Once she had parked, she shut the car off, and rushed to the building. She tried to peer inside, but the windows were covered in an opaque shadowy darkness that made it impossible to see through the glass.

"Gaara!" she shouted, banging on the window. It was fruitless effort, but she had to do something. Quickly, she hurried to the door and of course it was locked. She got down to her knees, producing her lock-picking items from her pocket—in case she got locked out of her house without a key—and proceeded to pick the lock.

With her trembling hands it took her longer than usual, but finally the lock clicked and the door swung open. She was met with a black void, cold air rushing out and past her. She couldn't see anything inside. Sakura gulped. Bracing herself, she stepped past the threshold, the cold enveloping itself around her, and once she was fully inside, the door slammed shut behind her. Sakura turned around and where there was once a door laid an expanse of darkness. She turned back around, and with shaky movements pushed forward into the nothingness.

"Gaara?" she called out shakily. No answer, but she wasn't surprised.

She hated this. She could be walking right past Gaara and she wouldn't notice him, but when she looked down and saw that she could still see herself, she knew that wouldn't happen.

_**'Unless the darkness has completely swallowed him by now,'**_ a voice nagged in the back of her mind.

Sakura prayed that wasn't the case and, mustering up more resolve, she began to run.

"Gaara!" she shouted every now and then, hoping that somehow in this nothingness he would here her.

"Gaa—" she stopped. She could have sworn she's seen something.

Suddenly, she could hear them. Voices, whispers, hushed giggles, silent cackles. All of them assaulting her ears. She turned in a circle, her eyes wide and her heart pounding with fear.

"Gaara?" she called out, and suddenly, the voices stopped. The pause was only small, and then all of them mimicked her tauntingly. All of them called out his name, little sniggers and giggles followed close behind.

"Where is he?" Sakura shouted into the dark. The voices again stopped and started again, mimicking her worried question. Their hissing voices chilled her to her core. One rang out louder and clearer than the rest, silencing all the other voices.

**"Right behind you,"** it hissed, and then the all burst into a fit of giggles, cackles, sniggers, etc. Whatever it was, it creeped Sakura out as she slowly whirled around.

They were right though. Gaara stood there, face passive, golden eyes devoid of any and every emotion.

"G-Gaara?" she called to him, reached forward tentatively.

Before she could touch him though, she could feel it. It slithered up her legs, her back and slowly caressed her shoulders. It was cold, and its hissing sent a chill up her spine.

**"He can't hear you, you know,"** it hissed, slithering around her bodice. **"Poor, poor Gaara."** It slithered down her arm, nearing Gaara's body. It slowly wrapped itself around his shoulders and hissed into his ears, but the statement was directed toward her.** "Heart broken after only one girl. How pathetic,"** it grinned, a wide toothy grin, its wide golden eyes trained on Sakura.

"Stop touching him," Sakura finally uttered, the demand sounding weak to her own ears. The thing tsked, a smirk gracing its lips as it caressed Gaara's face.

**"Don't be jealous, Sakura. After all, **_**you're**_** the one who broke him,"** it grinned. Sakura was confused.

"B-but how?" she questioned, she wasn't sure if it was the cold or the fear, but she was starting to shake uncontrollably.

**"Humans,"** it sneered. **"Always so oblivious to the things around them,"** it grumbled. **"Allow me to show you."**

Suddenly, images flashed in front of her eyes, images of her . . . through Gaara's eyes. Images of them growing up together. She could feel the emotions he was constantly at war with whenever he was around her. Finally, it stopped. Stopped right on an image of her and Kankuro sitting at the table, hands linked together; the scene played out. How angry he had felt when he saw them; how sad he had felt when she looked at him right before he disappeared, those eyes showing hurt he knew only _he_ had caused.

When the images finally faded away she felt the shadow slither across her shoulders again.

**"See? It **_**is**_** your fault he's like this,"** it hissed in her ear with a dark chuckle.

Sakura shook her head. Tears brimming in her eyes.

"No . . ." she whispered, her voice cracking.

**"Come on, Sakura. Don't cry. Things will get better . . . for **_**you**_** that is. Him? He'll be a void of a human being for the rest of his life. You'll go on to do great things without him,"** the voice cackled. It was now slithering back and forth between the two, giving Sakura images of a future life. One with Kankuro. She was happy with him and her two kids.

But it was fake.

"Not without him," Sakura sniffed, her voice slightly cracking.

**"Oh? Why not?"** the shadow smiled a large Cheshire grin spreading across his face.

"Because—" she paused searching for the right term, picking through all of the emotions she felt toward Gaara throughout her entire life. Only one stuck out the most, the one that squeezed her heart and made her blood rush to her face and made her jittery every time she was near him.

"Because I love him," she declared.

**"Love?"** the shadow cackled as if it was the most outrageous think he had heard. **"What is love but a trivial emotion that causes the human to lose all sense of oneself?"** It rolled its eyes. **"Even if you did **_**love**_** him, how are you going to let him know? He's no longer a person but a shell devoid of any feeling."**

"But . . . He can't be gone," Sakura whispered, the tears now flowing freely. Her heart ached at the thought of Gaara actually being gone. She took a step forward, touching his hand.

"Gaara?" she looked into his empty eyes.

**"I told you: He can't hear you,"** the shadow rolled its eyes.

Sakura ignored it, raising Gaara's hand to her heart, it was pounding furiously at the thought of what she was about to do to try and bring him back. It was something that only worked in fairy tales, but trying this was better than doing nothing.

Keeping his hand over her heart and placing her hand over his, she leaned up and kissed him. The shell reacted only slightly, and the darkness around them lightened if only a little.

**"Wait. What are you doing?"** the shadow hissed. It was starting to fade as well. Sakura ignored it, focusing on putting all of her heart into the kiss.

Slowly but surely the shell grew warm, and Sakura pulled away to look into his eyes, her face a brilliant shade of red and her breaths coming out raggedly.

"Gaara?" she called out to him and he looked at her, his breathing ragged as well.

They were in the arcade, all the shadows were gone.

"Sakura?" he wasn't sure if he was seeing right.

More tears sprang to her eyes and a smile bloomed across her face.

"You're back!" she declared, throwing her arms around him and holding him in a tight embrace. Gaara froze but slowly and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her small frame and burying his face in her shoulder.

"Sakura . . ." he murmured quietly, and she could feel a wide grim forming on his lips.

"Gaara?" she called out in confusion, pulling away a little.

Then he erupted in laughter and she pulled away completely. He looked down at her with evil golden eyes, a large feral smile plastered on his face.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, Toots," he cackled and then he was gone completely.

Sakura fell to her knees. It hadn't worked, and now Gaara was probably gone forever.

And then the sobs came.

* * *

Kitty-chan: I hope you guys liked it. Again be on the lookout for the sequel; I'll have it up ASAP. Please review ^_^ It would make me a very happy kitty.


	7. Author's Note

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

Dear Readers, Reviewers, and People who favorited my story but didn't review(Yeah, I know who you are),

I have just recently uploaded the first few chapters of _Traipsing Darkness_, sequel to this story that you have now finished reading.

I hope you like _Traipsing Darkness_ just as much as you liked _Watcha Doin?_

And again: REVIEW! Yeah, this goes to you favoritors that are out there. Please?

This ends my note.

~peace

nomorehappykitty ^-^


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